Next week, as part of their Safety Around Water Week, three Brevard YMCA locations will offer free swimming and water safety lessons for kids ages 4-12.

Next week, all three Brevard YMCA locations will offer a week of free swimming lessons for kids ages 4-12.

Water is omnipresent in Central Florida, making basic swimming proficiency and an understanding of water safety principles a potentially life-saving skill set.

According to the Florida Department of Health, Florida loses more children under age 5 to drowning annually than any other state.

As part of their Safety Around Water Week, the Suntree, Titusville and Cocoa YMCA locations will be offering the lessons from 5-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday at their respective aquatic centers. In addition to basic swimming and water safety instruction, the program will also feature lessons in character development, according to a press release issued by the Central Florida YMCA.

"When a kid has cancer, doctors work tirelessly to cure the disease. In this case, the disease is drowning, and the cure is learning to swim," said Brandon Ballard, operations director at the Cocoa YMCA.

"Kids are drowning every day because they don't have a basic understanding of water safety or a place to practice it. It's our goal to help do our part to fix that," said Ballard.

Classes will teach children what to do if they fall into water unexpectedly, instruction on how to safety alternate between swimming and floating, what to do if they see someone in trouble in the water, and more.

"What we're finding is that typically in lower income areas, a lot of parents opt not to teach their kids how to swim because they themselves don't know how to swim," said Ballard. "Non-swimming parents are nervous about their kids getting into trouble in the water, and their inability to help save them, so they skip the whole thing."

Ballard pointed out that all YMCA locations offer swimming lessons for both children and adults, so feasibly a child could receive lessons at the same time a child does.

"Swimming is a life long sport, and we're here to help."

Space is limited, and pre-registration is required. For more information, contact the YMCA location closest to you.

Suntree YMCA- 321-259-2929

Cocoa YMCA- 321-433-7770

Titusville YMCA- 321-267-8924

Michelle Mulak is the fitness and water reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Michelle at Mmulak@Floridatoday.com or follow her on Facebook or Instagram @MobilizeBrevard.